LONDON • Much has been made of the financial implications should major football leagues not be able to restart owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dutch Football Association has asked the government for aid after predicting a €400 million (S$614 million) loss over the premature cancellation of the Eredivisie a fortnight ago.

According to ESPN, French top-flight clubs are staring at a €177 million deficit in TV money alone after Ligue 1 was scrapped last week.

The damage will be even more acute for bigger leagues, with Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas estimating a €1 billion loss, while the English Premier League has outlined a £1.1 billion (S$1.76 billion) consequence.

As such, most competitions have been scrambling to put together a contingency plan to somehow salvage their campaigns by any means necessary. But in their negotiations with several governments, and health and safety agencies, one voice has been largely absent from the discussions despite having just as much at stake.

Football is the world's most popular sport, full of money, power and social importance, but it is also a game played by human beings and players, past and present, are increasingly speaking up about the dangers of resuming too soon while the Covid-19 crisis rages on.

Former Watford forward Marvin Sordell yesterday told the Press Association the Premier League has to consider the players' personal situation and understand their right to refuse a return to action if and when the season resumes.

"Some people will be living on their own and won't have fears they may pass the virus onto somebody else if they contracted it themselves," he said.

"There will be other players who live with their parents, or they are their parents' only means of being able to get food.

"Their partners might be pregnant or they might have young kids, and some might have underlying health conditions. Some players themselves might have underlying health conditions."

Sordell is not the only one to express such concerns.

Brighton striker Glenn Murray and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero said recently they were worried about playing again and putting their families at risk.

Cologne's Birger Verstraete, who plays in the German Bundesliga - a league that is closest to recommencing, possibly as soon as next weekend - also told Belgian television that while he had no control over the top flight's decision, he said his "head is not on football" but rather on health.

Brazilian players from top sides like Flamengo, Corinthians and Santos also took a rare united stance on Monday, producing a video to ask authorities to put their health at the top of the agenda when deciding whether or not to return to action.

While leagues and clubs continue to try to work around the crisis, it is clear players ought to be consulted more.

Despite their privileged positions, they are, at the end of the day, still someone's son, brother, friend, uncle, husband or father.

REUTERS